House of the Lion
by CrystalCard
Summary: Loke , the leader of the Zodiac Gates. Negi, magister-magi-in-training. What's the connection? An age old secret revealed and reunions galore. A family separated by war, time and space will finally be reunited... hopefully.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"_**Onions can be apprentices?" by Happy**_

Loke slumped over the counter of the rebuilt Fairy Tail guild bar. He should have been quite happy today, after all they had been successful in rescuing Erza from the Tower of Heaven and there seemed to be no immediate threat. Erza was trying to serious injure someone for spilling her cheesecake, Gajeel, Natsu and Grey were locked in a three way battle and almost everyone else in the guild were fighting just for the sake fighting. It was an average day at Fairy Tail.

Usually her would join them or be pulled into it, but today he wasn't in the mood for any of that. Loke felt as if there was no use of any joy on this day because today was the day when _she _died. No, he wasn't thinking about his previous owner, Karen, he was thinking of his very first owner, the one he saw die in front of his very eyes.

"I should've been the one who die that day." The lion spirit muttered as he attempted to bury himself into the wooden counter. All he wanted to do today was to mourn in peace.

Sadly that wasn't going to happen…

The bar fights were soon stopped by the guild doors were blasted to bits by a white bolt of lightning. Standing among the rubble was a very mad Laxus carrying a small bundle in one hand. The thunder dragon slayer rushed up to the counter at a speed that rivalled that of light. Slamming his free hand he bellowed, "WHERE'S THE OLD MAN?!"

"Welcome back Laxus, Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow." Mirajane greeted cheerily, unfazed by Laxus' tone. "The Master is currently out and will be back in a few hours."

"That's not soon enough!"Laxus cried, hugging the bundle closer. "He'll be dead by the time Gramps gets back."

Mirajane's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates to what she had heard. "What was that?"

Laxus quickly whispered something into her ear before she dragged him up to the infirmary.

"Laxus seems to be out of character today."Erza stated as she knocked Grey and Gajeel's heads together.

"Maybe someone stole his fish." Happy suggested.

"I don't think that's the case."Lucy sweat-dropped.

"I'll challenge him to a fight as soon as he gets back." Natsu proclaimed, shooting a pillar of flames into the sky. "I'll beat him this time."

"Considering the state Negi's in right now, he won't be fighting anyone anytime soon."

The group spun around to see a very haggard and worried Thunder Tribe.

"Why would Laxus be worried about green onions?" Grey asked while rubbing the large lump on the back of his head.

"Negi is the name of Laxus' apprentice, not a vegetable." Freed explained. "We found him abandoned in the middle of the forest. The boy was badly wounded and had forgotten everything except for his name. The plan was to leave him in the next town we came across but when Laxus discover that Negi was able to use similar, if not the same, magic as him; he took the boy as his apprentice."

"Laxus sees the boy as the little brother that he never had." Evergreen continued while fiddling with her fan. "He was fatally injured during our last job and his condition had been getting worse ever since."

The rest of Fairy Tail was quite shocked. Who was the boy who caused the guild's most anti-social team to open up like that?

Many miles away, another 'guild' was fretting over the disappearance of one of their most powerful mages. He had fallen into depression and was mentally unstable at the time of his disappearance, what sort of trouble might he cause?

A figure in a black cloak chuckled darkly. If all things went to plan, their goal would finally be accomplished. Now if only they could get rid of _that woman…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_**Welcome to Fairy Tail." by Erza**_

Despite being a stellar spirit, Loke spent a lot of time in the Human world even, when he wasn't summoned by his owner. He had so many things that tied him to the place, memories both good and bad. It was also a place that he could get all his thoughts straightened out. The lion spirit was pondering the small piece of information Bickslow had passed to him a several days ago. Bickslow's magic allowed him to see into, and manipulate, souls and had known that Loke was a stellar spirit since day one. He had seen something queer and extremely rare in the soul of Laxus's apprentice, a direct connection to the stellar spirit world. Now Loke was trying to puzzle how that was possible, and if this 'Negi' would pose a threat to the guild.

{~~~}

As the days passed, neither Laxus nor Mira had exited the infirmary. Fairy Tail's Guildmaster, Makarov, was yet to return; his little 'outing' seemed to be longer than the 'few hours' that Mira had claimed.

The mages of Fairy Tail were growing restless, all for different reasons: for the Thunder Tribe, it was the worried wait for Laxus and his injured apprentice; for Lucy, it was the fact that she didn't have the money to pay for her upcoming rent on her apartment; for Cana, it was because she hadn't had a drop of alcohol since the day began. At Fairy Tail, stress and restlessness was relived with a single action: violence.

The fighting wasn't any different from any other day, lots of property damaged and everyone attempting to attack everyone else, but was soon ceased when a large '_BANG!' _erupted through the hall as the door was, once again, blown to bits. Makarov diminutive form zoomed through the warzone and into the infirmary. Fairy Tail's mages blinked. What had caused the Gulidmaster to move so quickly? Had he heard of the condition Laxus's apprentice was in? Was the boy's condition really that bad?

"So this is Fairy Tail. They really are like one big family."

The guild's attention was immediately transferred to a woman who looked about in her late-twenties/early-thirties dressed in a cream white dress and a pale grey travelling cloak. She had long blonde hair and her mismatched blue-and-green eyes hinted her amusement.

"Umm… Who are you?" Lucy asked politely, she sure she had seen that woman somewhere before. Maybe the woman had been featured in a magazine, or maybe a famous mage of some sort? The rest of the guild shared the same look, they had seen her before but they couldn't remember where.

"My name is Arika En- Kagurazaka." The woman answered hesitantly. "I wish to Fairy Tail."

"Well you came to the right place." Erza smiled as extended her hand. "I am Erza Scarlet. I apologize about the state our guild is in."

Arika shook Erza's hand and return the smile. "Don't apologize, Ms Erza. I should be the one apologizing for intruding on your fight." Her eyes scanned around the hall, glancing at every new face, the people that would hopefully accept her into family. Everyone seemed so happy and at peace, despite having just stopped fighting. Arika was excited to be working with these people, until her eyes fell on the only familiar face.

{~~~}

Makarov examined the boy before him. The child was covered from head to toe in cuts that wouldn't stop bleeding. They were caused by a dark spell that very few had seen, but the cuts looked worse than they actually were. The spell was designed to cause the target to fall into a coma until they bleed out or the cuts were healed. Since he had been able to stop the boy from losing any more blood, all that was left to do was to let the wounds heal. Makarov was glad he arrived when he did. If he had arrived any later, the boy would have surely died.

But what had really caught his attention were the boy's previous scars. Laxus had claimed that his apprentice already had them when the Thunder Tribe had found him. Makarov believed him. He knew that his grandson could cruel at times, but he wouldn't be that heartless to have given child all those scars. There was one that travelled right across his forearm and another across his cheek. The Guildmaster identified them as old battle wounds, though he wondered how a child could have gotten them. There were also two marks over his chest that shouldn't have been there. They were right over his heart and should have instantly killed him. Yet, he had somehow managed survived and recover. Other smaller scars were scattered around his body, all appeared to be caused by some sort of ice magic.

"Laxus, what else do you know about this boy?" Makarov asked his grandson.

"Not much." Laxus replied. "Negi has amnesia and only knew his name when we found him, though we think it's more of a nickname. Who would be idiotic enough to name their kid after onions of all things?" Somewhere, a certain idiot sneezed. "Negi also seemed particularly attached to a staff we found him with. He wouldn't let it out of his sight and would attack anyone or anything that tried to take it away from him without his permission." Laxus winced as he remembered what happened to the last person that came between the kid and his staff.

Makarov raised his eyebrow. "Staff?"

Using re-equip magic, Laxus summoned a bandaged covered stick that was as tall as he was. He tossed the staff to his grandfather, who then studied it with steady precision. Despite keeping a calm face, Makarov was quite shocked and surprised to see a weapon that only existed in legends right before him and how someone as young as the boy came across it.

"So why did you take the boy as your apprentice?" Makarov asked in attempt to divert his attention from the staff.

"Because we use the same magic."

Makarov was unable to hide his shock this time. His gaze travelled from his grandson to the boy on the infirmary bed. Another dragon slayer and one of the element of lightning to boot. How was Fairy Tail to survive with _four_ dragon slayers under its roof?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"_**Natsu's an idiot." by Loke**_

Of all the people he expected to walk through Fairy Tail's doors, one of his former owners was the last person Loke would expect. The last time they had seen each other was when Arika passed his key to Bob, the Guildmaster of Blue Pegasus who later passed it onto Karen, before leaving with her husband on a quest of revenge six years ago. Loke didn't know all the details but he knew it had something to do with her brother-in-law and his family. Arika was usually seen by her husband's side, keeping the idiot out of trouble, but seeing his former owner by herself meant that idiot finally had gotten himself killed or worse.

The lion spirit helped Arika settle into Fairy Tail's family and taught her the ropes of the guild. At first, Lucy was suspicious why Loke was being slightly clingy and over-protective of the new member but backed off after he explained that he was just holding up his side of a _very _old promise. Loke was sure that Lucy was curious about what that promise was, but was glad that his former and current owners were getting along.

{~~~}

Makarov and Mirajane emerged from the infirmary several days after the Guildmaster's arrival. He didn't say anything about Laxus's apprentice and continued business as usual. Mirajane was her normal cheery self and only hinted that they might meet the mystery boy once he recovers.

Arika received the guild's stamp on her left shoulder, making her an official member of Fairy Tail. Not much was known about her besides that she was once held Loke's key. It was assumed she was able to summon stellar spirits like Lucy, but not everyone was certain. Erza thought she used re-equip magic after once seeing her summon an elegant broadsword while Grey thought she used some sort of ice magic after nearly being hit by a bluish projectile. Nastu was one who never enjoyed playing guessing games, so to end all the speculation and hopefully get a good fight; he challenged Arika to a duel.

{~~~}

Loke shook his head and sighed; he knew that Natsu was a head-strong battle-manic idiot, a bit like another person he knew, but challenging someone like Arika was just plain suicide. If the rose-haired dragon slayer knew _exactly _who Arika was, a duel would be the last thing on his mind…hopefully. All the lion spirit hoped was that his former owner would at least let her opponent walk away without any fatal injuries.

{~~~}

The area behind Fairy Tail was normally a calm and peaceful place overlooking the sea. It was covered in soft green grass and was a perfect for midday naps, or magic duels between mages.

Natsu observed his opponent's battle stance; it was firm and regal and reminded him a lot like how Erza would stand before a fight. Maybe she used re-equip magic or ice magic or a type of magic no one in Fairy Tail has ever seen before. The very thought excited him. The dragon slayer summoned his flames as his opponent muttered a queer phase before apparently pulling out a broadsword with crimson wing-like decorations that covered the hilt. Arika held the elegant blade in one hand; Natsu noticed that she wore silver bracelet with a blue ornament with grey swirls in the other. Was it for some sort of holder magic or was it just an accessory?

Unable to contain his excitement, Natsu rushed at Arika… only to be hit directly in the face with over a dozen water projectiles.

{~~~}

"What's that spell?" Lucy asked as Natsu was hit with another wave of projectiles.

The majority of the other spectators nodded in agreement. Many members of Fairy Tail had come out to watch the fight take place; everyone wanted to know what type of magic the new member of their family could do. Though no one knew what branch of magic that spell had come from. Well, almost no one.

"It's _Sagitta Magica_." Loke answered.

"Saji-terri-what?"

Loke sighed. "_Sagitta Magica_, or Magic Arrows, is the name of the spell Arika is using." He explained. "It allows the user to shoot magic projectiles of their element, though they could only be shot in prime numbers."

"Then what is the sword for?" Erza questioned. "Is she a swordswoman?"

Loke was glad that he was able to keep a straight face; otherwise he would be on the ground laughing like a madman, which would raise quite a few unneeded questions. The thought of his former owner being able to properly use the piece of steel she held was hilarious_. 'Arika is so bad at using her sword that she could accidently kill someone without even trying.' _He thought. Loke then stated calmly. "The sword's there for reasons I am unable to say."

With that, the conversation was ended and Natsu continued to be pummelled with barrages of water arrows.

{~~~}

Back on the battlefield, Natsu tried his best to dodge the arrows being shot at him, but it was easier said than done. It was as if the water projectiles were tracking his every move and that they came in groups of one hundred and one to three thousand and one didn't help either. Every time he tried to summon his flames, one of the arrows instantly drenched it. His opponent wasn't slowing down either, it was as if she could blast those arrows at him until the end of time.

The dragon slayer soon realised that Arika's left side was completely unguarded. While she did hold her sword in her left hand, Natsu had overheard Loke say that she was terrible at using it. It would be risky aiming at his opponent's armed side, no matter how bad she was with her sword, but it was a risk that he was willing to take. Natsu focused what was left of his magic energy into his right hand, shielding it from any incoming projectiles. _"Karyū no Tekken!" _he exclaimed as he lunged at his opponent's left side.

Arika smirked, Natsu had fallen into her trap. Focusing on excess magic that had collected by her sword, she ceased the flurry of _Sagitta Magica _and tightened her grip on the sword's hilt. _"Tranquillitas fluctus miscere cum tenuis ventus, convenientibus in gladium meum_," she incanted as a gentle blue glow engulfed her sword. "_Et venient simul percutere inimícus._ _Percutiat tranquilla." _She gracefully swung her blade, causing it to meet Natsu's flaming fist. The dragon slayer's flames were once again extinguished and he was thrust into a nearby tree.

Arika won the match, but that wouldn't stop Natsu from trying to beat her again.

{~~~}

Back in the guild, the noise created by the two final attacks meeting woke a young maroon-haired by from his sleep. The drawn curtains prevented any sunlight from entering the room, making the boy believe that it was night-time. He noticed that his teacher had fallen asleep on a nearby chair. He knew that his teacher didn't like being disturbed while he was sleeping, so he would ask him where they were and where the rest of the team are in the morning. Snuggling back into his blanket, Negi returned to the world dreams and nightmares.

{~~~}

_Karyū no Tekken_ - Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon

_Tranquillitas fluctus miscere cum tenuis ventus, convenientibus in gladium meum. Et venient simul percutere inimícus. Percutiat tranquilla._ -Calm waves combine with the gentle wind, come together within my sword. Come together and strike mine enemy. Tranquil strike.

_Sagitta Magica _–Magic Arrows


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"_**How'dit get here!" by Natsu**_

The days that followed the fight was nothing out of the ordinary (by Fairy Tail standards). Natsu had attempted to challenge Arika to another formal duel, though it usually ended as another bar fight within the first few blows. Loke had teamed up with his former owner, accompanying her on jobs whenever Lucy didn't need him, claiming that it was part of his promise.

Due to popular demand, Arika had taken up teaching the _Sagitta Magica _in-between her jobs to anyone willing to learn, from Macao's son Romeo to old Guildmaster Makarov.

As the weeks dragged on, neither Laxus nor his mystery apprentice had been seen. They were no longer staying at the infirmary, so attempting to get hurt to meet the boy was crossed off the list for some of the more impatient members (*cough*Natsu*cough*). The Thunder Tribe were getting increasingly anxious and had taken up many dangerous jobs to distract themselves. They had often been heard muttering something about onions, though no one knew why (at least those who had forgotten Laxus's apprentice's name).

{~~~}

"Wasn't that great?" Lucy exclaimed as she, Happy and Natsu headed back to Fairy Tail. "It was simple, nothing got destroyed in the process of completing the job and now I've got enough money to pay for my rent for the next three months!"

"That mission was boring." Natsu complained. "All we had to do to kill a monster in some rich guy's woodlands, and it wasn't even a monster! It was just a bunch of kids in costumes. There was no fighting or anything."

"Aye!" Happy interjected.

"Let's get back to the guild ASAP." Natsu proclaimed. "I want to challenge Arika to a rematch. I'm going to beat her this time!"

'_Is fighting the only thinks he thinks about?' _Lucy thought tiredly as they entered the guild.

There were only two people in the building, not including themselves. Mirajane was happily cleaning the tables with a small boy assisting her. The pair seemed to be so absorbed in their work that they didn't notice the trio enter.

"Hey Mira! Where is everyone?" Natsu asked rather loudly.

"Oh! Hello Lucy, Natsu, Happy." Mira greeted the group. "Everyone's off on some odd job. The Master said something about some sort of job completing competition and soon all the jobs were gone. So it has just been me and Negi for the last few days."

"Negi?" Lucy questioned. "So it's just been you and the onions?"

"Oh no!" Mira laughed as she finished wiping another table. "Negi is Laxus's apprentice. He's gotten better but Laxus said that he should wait a few more days before doing anything dangerous."

Lucy looked down at the small boy and smiled. He seemed too focused on his work to have noticed that his companion had stopped. From what Mira had said, Negi revealed a soft side of Laxus that he had tried so hard to hide. Maybe he wasn't as bad as he appeared to be.

{~~~}

Natsu hadn't noticed that the guild was almost deserted or the red-haired boy. What had caught his attention was a staff in the corner. To anyone else, it was just a stick with a jagged edge wrapped in bandages. But to a select few, Natsu and Makarov included, it was a weapon that dated back to before the war between dragons and humans. It was the heirloom of a noble dragon family whose matriarch disappeared many centuries ago.

Natsu grabbed at the staff, only to be hit square in the face with a wet rag and sent flying into the opposite wall. He looked up and saw a boy standing over him.

"Can you please not touch my staff without my permission?" The boy said. His voice was modest and polite, but he expelled an intimidating aura.

All of Natsu's instincts were telling him to apologise and flee, but he wasn't one to take such a cowardly way out.

"Who are you?" Natsu questioned rudely. He knew it wasn't the nicest way to ask, but wasn't going to take any chances when someone who barely looked older than Romeo was throwing death glares backed up with ridiculous amounts of magical energy at him.

"Negi." The boy answered calmly, though his words were laced with venom. "Is it fine if you tell me yours?"

Natsu Dragneel." The fire dragon slayer stated. Natsu was feeling extremely uncomfortable. Normally, he would start a fight with the boy but everything else in his body was telling him not to. So he was forced to do something that he rarely ever did: think his way out. '_The kid said not to touch the staff without his permission.'_ He thought to himself. '_So if I ask, maybe he'll stop looking at me like some sort of wanted criminal. It's worth a shot and I could try taking him on if that doesn't work.'_ "Do you think I can look at your staff?" he asked cautiously.

"Okay!" Negi cheerily replied, any previous hostility having disappeared from his tone. "Just be careful, don't break it."

Natsu took the staff from the boy and began to run his hands slowly across its length. Even though the bandages blocked out most of the staff's magic, he could feel the power flowing from the item. It was defiantly _it, _the weapon that his foster father had once mentioned in his tales. It could reveal the hidden secrets the dragons of old had tried so desperately to hide; it could unlock a dragon slayer's true power. That is, if you knew how to use it.

"Where did you find this?" Natsu had to know where the kid found the staff. It could be the clue to where and why all the dragons disappeared all those years ago.

Negi's eyes lowered and his face darkened, but that smile never left his face. "Teacher Laxus that it was the only thing that they found near me when the found me in the woods." He said sadly. "It is the only thing that links me to my past. All I know that it's proof."

Natsu looked the boy directly in the eye. "Proof?"

"Proof." Negi confirmed. "It is proof that someone is alive, and I have to find whoever that person is. Maybe he'll know who I am."

Natsu nodded, he understood how the boy felt. His scarf was the only thing that he had left of his foster father before he disappeared seven years ago.

Natsu tossed Negi back his staff, the boy stumbling to catch it. "I'm going to help you find this person kid." Natsu yelled enthusiastically. "Maybe you'll find this guy a whole lot faster if we all pitched in to help."

Negi looked up, but he didn't see Natsu. Instead, he saw a girl with red hair held up in two ponytails by bell-like accessories. She was wearing uniform of some sort and was carrying a sword-like harisen.

_{We're going to help you find him no matter what!}_

The image of the girl soon faded, leaving a determined-looking Natsu in her place. Negi blinked a couple of times. _'Was that a memory?' _he thought as a blonde-hair girl in white and blue started yelling at Natsu for yelling a child.

Mira smiled as she finished cleaning the last table. She didn't understand why Laxus was so worried about the boy; Negi had already made another friend at the guild and he should be fully recovered by the end of the week. A queer thought then struck the eldest Strauss sibling; what if there was some other injury that the boy had that the Thunder Tribe had yet to tell them? If they hadn't said anything about another injury or medical condition, maybe it was just them being a little over protective. Or maybe it was something more deadly…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"_**NO BATH!" by Negi**_

It was the average day at Fairy Tail, the guild being deserted with the exception of a few people. For the people who had known the guild would have classified this as unusual, the calm before the storm, but to Negi this was normal. He wished that he could be around when the guild was filled up and full of life, like he had heard the people complain about, not the ghost-like state he had seen it in most of the time.

Negi had wanted to accompany his teacher and the Thunder Tribe on their jobs, but he was left behind as they were still unsure if he had fully recovered from his injuries. Negi had once tried to join Natsu, Happy and Lucy on one of their jobs, but Freed had set runes in place to prevent the boy from leaving Magnolia Town. So now, Negi was stuck in the Fairy Tail building with nothing better to do except wipe already clean glasses.

The front doors cracked open and a man in his late teens/ early twenties entered. Negi didn't recognise the man, but then again, he hadn't met everyone in the guild. The man carried several staves on his back and his face was mostly covered by a mask. The man appeared surprised that there was barely anyone in the guild. _'Maybe he hasn't been back at the guild for quite a while.' _Negi concluded.

"Hello!" Negi greeted as he approached the masked man. "I'm Negi. What's your name?"

"Mystogan." The man hesitantly answered. Mystogan's gaze travelled around the empty guild. "Where is everybody?"

"Everyone's off on some sort of job." Negi answered. "The Guildmaster is out doing… something, and Ms Mirajane went to market, she should back any moment now."

As if on cue, Mira entered the guild with a large paper bag filled with food in each arm. "I'm back!"

"Welcome back Ms Mirajane!" Negi replied, running up to the woman. "Can I put the food away please, Ms Mirajane?"

"Are you sure?"

Negi gave a small nod. Mira reluctantly passed the bags to the boy. As the bags being nearly as big and heavy as he was, Negi had stumbled and nearly face planted several times on his way to the kitchen.

Mira sighed. "That boy will seriously hurt himself one day trying to help someone else." She then noticed the masked mage standing awkwardly to the side. "Hello Mystogan." She said in her normal cheery tone. "How did your last job go?"

"I survived." He answered. "If you don't mind me asking, who is that boy?"

"He's Negi, Laxus's apprentice."

Mystogan raised an eyebrow. "The Guildmaster's grandson? He doesn't seem like the apprentice taking type."

"Laxus took us all by surprise when bolted into the guild with Negi in his arms." Mira voice then darkened. "Though no one, not even the Thunder Tribe, knows much about Negi besides he can use the same magic as Laxus. For all we know, Negi could be an assassin sent by a dark guild… or worse." She then smiled and her voice brightened. "But Negi's too sweet to do that; he wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone another person." '_Unless they took way his staff.' _Mira added mentally.

"Ms Mirajane, everything's all fixed!" Negi said as he ran to join the pair.

"Thank you Negi." Mira replied. "But you don't have to call me 'Ms Mirajane', just Mira is fine."

"Okay Ms Mira."

Mira sighed. Whoever had taught the boy his manners must have went a bit overboard.

{~~~}

In a small town in Wales, a blonde-haired girl wondered whether she pounded the 'be-a-well-mannered-gentleman-to-everyone-you-meet ' rule too deeply into her younger cousin's head.

{~~~}

Mystogan wearily eyed the red-haired child as he conversed with take-over mage. He was pretty sure that Mira had been joking about the boy being an assassin but they knew next to nothing about the boy and that he could be a danger to the guild.

His eyes then fell on the staff on the boy's back. To anyone else, it appeared to be a magical medium for some sort of holder magic but if Mira's claim that Negi used the same magic as Laxus, he would be using lighting-attributed caster magic and wouldn't need a medium. Mystogan sensed that the staff had its own magic independent of its wielder, very similar to his own staves. Could the staff, and in turn the boy, have come from the same world he had?

{~~~}

Mira gave Negi a sniff. "When was the last time you had a bath?"

"About a month ago…" Negi said slowly then quickly added, "But I'm not dirty!"

"No excuses, young man." Mira said sternly. "It's bath time."

All manners and formalities were shot dead with the cry of "No bath!" and they were off, Mira chasing Negi around the building with a scrub brush while Mystogan remained where he stood, lost in thought and completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

{~~~}

When Arika returned to Fairy Tail after her first solo job, she was expecting her guild mates to be relaxing and talking about their day's work, or in the middle of a bar fight. What she found was the guild in various stages of undress (with Grey surprisingly being the only one fully clothed) chasing a bolt of lightning around a large tub of water with various toiletries. The only person who wasn't part of the chase was a masked man carrying various staves and appeared to be lost in thought.

She had originally joined the guild because the rumours she had heard about them was uncannily similar to those of her previous 'guild': a bunch of idiots that love fighting and blowing stuff up for no reason whatsoever; so it was a given that they would be slightly eccentric. But this was taking it to an entirely new level of idiocy, who would be chasing a lightning bolt around _water _of all things?

Deciding that she wouldn't wait until someone got electrocuted, Arika extended her hand in the lightning's path and grabbed onto it, immediately cancelling out and of its magical effects. She then found herself holding onto the collar of a boy's shirt. Arika glanced at the boy and was shocked at his appearance; if it weren't for her upbringing, she would have given in to the emotions that were swelling up inside of her.

Turning to the mob of mages, who had frozen in shock, Arika asked. "I assume that this child needs a bath?" They collectively nodded. "It's time for your bath. No excuses, no complaints." She emotionlessly stated to the boy.

Collecting a bar of soap that had fallen to the ground, she walked over to the tub, stripped the boy and proceeded scrubbing him.

The rest of the guild just stood and stared, the newest member of their obscure family was apparently as strict as Erza, maybe even more so. Several members added her name to their mental list of women not to piss off.

From that day on, Negi's bath times never caused another big commotion; they just let Arika scrub the poor boy's skin off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"_**If only there were another way…" by Arika and Evergreen**_

Arika glared at the glowing portal in front of her, scowling at its very existence. Even though she and her husband had solved Edolas's little 'magic problem' six years ago, small magic-sucking portals called 'Anima' had still been appearing around the country's polar opposite, Earth Land.

She sighed; the magic used to create these portals was ancient and very powerful. Faust may be old and slightly senile, but he made the Anima well and near indestructible. Arika had originally used a sealing spell when dealing with the Anima but after one of the sealed portals reopened two years ago, she was forced to use the alternative.

"_Re-equip._" Arika reluctantly muttered.

A large black key topped with a silver spinning globe appeared in her hands. It expelled a dark and ominous aura gave the feeling that time had stopped. Arika hated using it but it was the only thing capable of destroying, no _erasing,_ the Anima.

She pointed the end of the key at the portal, the incanted, _"Rewrite!"_

The globe stopped spinning and glowed a bloody red. With a bright flash, the portal disappeared. Arika released the key and it returned to her pocket dimension. She fell to her knees and clutched her heart and panted, she wondered how _they _were able to use the key's power without using up so much energy.

Once she had caught her breath, Arika stood up and prepared to leave. When she turned around, she came face to face with a man barely out of his teens. She recognised him as the idiot that was standing in the middle of the hall while the rest of the guild was chasing her so- that boy. His eyes were then filled with heavy thought but now wide with shock and fear.

'_How long has he been standing there?' _She thought._ 'How much did he see?'_

When he opened his mouth, he whispered two words; a title Arika wished she would never hear again.

"Calamity Queen."

{~~~}

Evergreen stood at the door of one of Fairy Tail's many guest rooms. She raised her hand to nock but then stopped halfway.

Did she want to do this?

Not in a million year.

Did she _have _to do this?

… Yes.

She gently rapped on the wooden surface and waited.

The door opened a few seconds later revealing a young boy with reddish-marron hair and mismatched blue-green eyes. His eyes brightened and he smiled at the Stone Eyes mage.

"Hello Miss Evergreen." He said in his normal formal yet overly friendly tone. "Please come in."

Evergreen reluctantly entered the room; it was pretty much identical to the other guest rooms with the exception that the small wooden desk in the corner was heavily burdened by various books and manuscripts on a wide range of magic's. She sat herself at the foot of the bed while Negi searched the room for the non-excitant second chair. To distract herself from what she had to do, Evergreen reached picked up a book from the top of the stack on the desk. It was a medium sized book called _A Guide to Creating Magic _with page markers sticking out of the chapter on Archive magic.

"You're trying to learn Archive?" Evergreen asked.

Negi, having given up on the search for the second chair that didn't exist, nodded. "I'm hoping to use Archive to organise my memories and hopefully piece together who I really am. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate what you and Teacher Laxus and Misters Freed and Bickslow and everyone in Fairy Tail have done for me, I really do, but I can't stand not knowing who I really am."

Silence ruled in the room after that. Evergreen returned the book to the desk while Negi was thinking how he could break the silence.

"What's the Harvest Festival like?" Negi finally asked. "Teacher Laxus and Mr Freed have been too busy and Mr Bickslow's explanation doesn't make any sense."

Evergreen then remembered why she had come here in the first place. "I'm sorry Negi." She said sadly as she lowered her glasses and activated her Stone Eyes. "But we can't let you interfere."

Evergreen didn't want to do this but she had to. Negi had somehow done the impossible; he had weaselled his way into the hearts of Fairy Tail's coldest team and warmed their very souls. Not one of them wanted their little protégé caught in the crossfire of what was about to happen.

Evergreen replaced the glasses on her face a quickly left the room, leaving a statue of a confused and sadden boy in her wake.

{~~~}


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"_**Mr Freed needs to work harder on his runes." By Negi **_

"… and that's what really happened."

Mystogan's eyes widened as he attempted to take in all the information that he had just received. To think, Earthland and his homeland were_ not_ in two different dimensions and the very thing that everyone had believed was restoring their land's magic was in fact sapping it away.

"I'm sorry; it's just that… this is just a bit too much to take in all at once."

Arika gave a kind smile. "I know it's a lot to take in. It might take a while for it all to sink in."

"So Loke is really your…?" Mystogan began.

"He is." Arika said, cutting him off. "It's the reason he's so protective of me, I am more than just his former owner."

The masked mage then asked, "Will you ever tell _him _who you really are?"

"Maybe when he regains his memory…" Arika answered sadly. "I lost all rights to that position the day we left him behind. I am no longer worthy of that title."

Before either of them could say another word, a wall of runes surrounded them. Mystogan attempted to blasted the obstacle away with his staff only to have the orb of magic energy rebound straight back at him.

"What's going on?" Mystogan stammered.

"We'll soon find out."

Arika hesitantly pushed her hand against the rune wall and a set of words formed:

"_To leave this area,_

_You must be the last man left standing."_

Arika concluded, "Someone is trying to turn us against each other."

"So do we have to fight to escape this prison?" Mystogan asked.

His companion smirked. "No, we don't need to fight because…" she then raised her voice. "The rules state that there must only man left standing to leave the area and I am a woman not a man."

As if she had used her Magic Cancelling abilities, the runes faded away, leaving them a clear path to the guild.

Mystogan was dumbstruck. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"I was a politician." Arika stated. "My job was to find loopholes in the rules and exploit them to our advantage."

With that, the pair headed off towards Fairy Tail guild while verbally destroying several more rune barriers on the way.

{~~~}

Evergreen knew she had lost. She was backed up against a wall with Erza staring her down, ready to attack. Evergreen couldn't escape without risking losing her an arm or leg to the Titania's blades and she quite liked having all her limbs attached to her body.

The Fairy Queen had demanded that she release the people she held under Stone Eyes. The only way for the magic to come undone was for her to be unable to supply magic to keep the spell active. She would either have to leave the area, which was practically impossible with Freed's runes in place, or be knocked unconscious.

Evergreen then remembered that she had the ability to turn everyone she held captive into rubble with a single thought. She smirked; it was perfect bargaining material to getting out of the situation. She opened her mouth, prepared to strike a deal with Erza, but then something hit her like a ton of bricks. What would happen if she actually did destroy her petrified captives, whether by accident or the slim chance that Erza wouldn't let her go? There'd be no more Cana drinking in the back, no more Mirajane welcoming them back after every job. There'd be no more Juvia or Bisca or Levy or Lucy… or Negi.

Sighing, Evergreen revealed to Erza what it took to undo the petrification which led to the Titania knocking her out with the hilt of her blade.

{~~~}

Negi looked around; he was in his room in Fairy Tail guild, alone. He had remembered that Evergreen was with him and that he had told her that he had been trying to learn Archive and talked about the festival then Evergreen started to apologize then she lowered her glasses and… then he was alone. Negi concluded that Evergreen had used her Stone Eyes on him and, since he was now free, had either left Magnolia or was unconscious.

He shivered slightly at the thought that the Stone Eyes magic had been used on him. Ever since he had first seen it been used, Negi had always feared it. Whenever he had seen the Stone Eyes in action, a feeling of fear and dread washed over him. The images of a burning village, a pretty blonde lady's legs turning to stone and breaking off, an old man with a beard and robe slowly turning to stone and a cloaked warrior holding a horned and winged humanoid beast by the neck often flickered in the back of his mind. Unlike other times, these memories were clear and vivid and were what he believed made up the core of who he was.

Putting memories of snow and fire aside, Negi staggered out of his room to find out what was going on.

{~~~}

"_Karyū no Tekken!" _Natsu roared as another flaming fist met with the rune wall, only to be thrown back.

"Can you keep it down, Salamander?!" Gajeel yelled as Natsu crashed into the opposite wall.

"Both of you keep it down." Arika said calmly before returning to assist Levy decode the rune wall.

Mystogan leaned against the wall as the pair of dragon slayers silenced at the Calamity Queen's command. He and Arika had arrived minutes earlier and were filled in by Levy about the Fight Festival and the Thunder Lacrimas that now surround Magnolia. They attempted to leave and try to help bring an end to this only to be stopped by the same rune wall that prevented Natsu and Gajeel from leaving, which was odd since all of them were under the age of eighty. Hoping that there was a way to remove the barrier without _rewriting _it, Arika had joined Levy in trying to find a way to decode the runes.

Mystogan felt completely useless as he couldn't make heads or tails of the runes, prevent Natsu and Gajeel or help the Guildmaster's failing health. A set of gentle footsteps caused him to turn around to find Negi entering the room.

"Hello Mr Mystogan." The boy said while raising his had in greeting.

"What are you doing here?" Mystogan questioned hostilely. As Laxus's apprentice, it was assumed that Negi held some sort of part in his teacher's battle plan. Natsu and Gajeel growled and Levy glared at him. Arika simply looked away.

"Trying to find out what's going on." Negi answered while ignoring the death glares being sent his way.

"Where have you been?" Nastu asked.

Negi voice dropped to a whisper. "Petrified upstairs."

The hostility was quickly replaced by a stunned silence; Negi was a victim of this situation like they were.

Deciding to give her so- the boy some answers, Arika explained how Laxus had pitted the guild members against each other by petrifying the contestants of the Miss Fairy Tail competition and then used Thunder Palace to keep the fire going and how they were trying to decode Freed's runes.

Negi crossed his arms and closed his eyes to think. The rule had stated that those over eighty couldn't leave the building yet they somehow met the requirements despite them all being under forty. His eyes then flicked opened when an idea struck him. "Do any of you know your magic age?"

After not receiving an answer, he explained. "A magic age his how long a certain type of magic has been in a mage's body; for example: if a mage learn Re-equip when they were sixteen and they are now twenty, their magic age for Re-equip would be four. Someone's magic age can exceed their physical age if they have magic passed down through blood, whether from a transplant or an ancestor. It is extremely rare for magics that can be learnt from scratch to be passed down through blood, it is generally Ancient or 'Lost' magics, like Dragon-slaying magic, that are passed down through blood. For example: if a mage has dragon's lacrima implanted into them that is a hundred years old or is blood adopted by a hundred year old dragon to learn Dragon-slaying magic, their magic age would automatically become a hundred."

Arika nodded in understanding, her Magic Cancel, as well as some other magics, have been passed down her family line for generations and she was certain that Natsu and Gajeel's foster dragon parents were centuries old and that the magic in Mystogan's staves has been in them for decades.

"So how's that supposed to get us out of here?" Natsu asked, he didn't understand the explanation completely and had condensed it to 'old magic makes us old'.

"Like this." Negi touched the tip of his staff against the rune wall and mutter an incantation. A sphere of golden runes manifested on the staff's tip before it dispersed along the wall and caused it to shatter. He gave a sheepish smile. "I've been decoding Mr Freed's runes for the past few months so I kind of know their pattern."

Natsu and Gajeel wasted no time in running off to find Laxus and were soon followed by Mystogan. Levy returned inside the guild to take care of the ill Grandmaster while Negi headed towards the outskirts of town. Arika tailed him from a distance. While she did care for the boy, he had decoded the runes a bit too fast for her liking and she had to make sure he didn't double cross them. They may be of the same blood but the past has proven that they could still be betrayed and corrupted.

{~~~}

**This chapter was a little longer than usual… hope you like it!**

**Sorry for the long wait, I kind of lost my USB, had a writers' block and had a lot of homework to deal with but that's all out of the way now (hopefully).**

**I've put up a poll to see what you guys think which story I should focus on.**

**Thanks for reading and please vote!**


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